Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

If one employee is giving business to Mr X and is negotiating hard to get the best price, is it haram if he is taking some personal benifit from Mr X who is also benifiting from the business.

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Can one take commission

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

If you have an agreement with the company that employs you and pays you your salary that they have no objections if, after negotiating the best price, you may keep the balance (in cash or kind) as commission for yourself, there is absolutely no harm in your keeping the balance as commission in Shariah Law.

But if one does not have a specific agreement with the company one works for regarding the keeping of the balance commission, and one pockets this amount without the company’s precise approval; then such income would be absolutely forbidden and unlawful for the one who sincerely believes in Allah and the Last Day. In the absence of such an agreement, it is the duty of the righteous and God-fearing employee that he forward the full discount and any additional benefit to the company he works for. Unless and until he has precise approval from the management of the company he works for to pocket the extra commission for himself, that commission would not be permissible for the believer who sincerely fears Allah and the Last Day.

One of the ways of determining whether to pocket the extra commission is honest or dishonest, is to simply consult one’s own heart, and the answer will be extremely self evident! If the owners of the company that you work for found out or are told that you were personally benefiting from giving business to ‘Mr. X’, would they treat it as legal income for you, or a fraud and theft against their company?

The only way to make this commission lawful for you is to talk to the responsible managers or owners of the company, and strike a deal with them that you will negotiate to the best of your ability for the company; but if ‘Mr. X’ gives any additional commission, they will be yours to keep personally. If the management of your company give you their approval to keep these commissions, then and only then, will this income be legal for you.

A simple example should make the point clearer:

Suppose you have an employee or a servant whose salary you pay every month, and you ask him to buy a TV for you. He goes to a store and negotiates hard with them and manages to secure the TV from $1,000.00 to $950.00. The store is also having a promotion whereby they give a free DVD player with every TV bought. Would it be ethical or lawful for your servant to pocket that DVD player, that only came because of the TV you bought, without informing you or without your specific approval??

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan